


May Nothing but Death Do Us Part

by scholarlyspidey



Series: Writing Challenges [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-08-29 19:57:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16750597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scholarlyspidey/pseuds/scholarlyspidey
Summary: May is tired of Peter sneaking off to be Spider-Man and one night, she draws the line.





	May Nothing but Death Do Us Part

**  
**Ever since May found out that Peter was Spider-Man, she couldn’t help but feel something change between the two of them. **  
**

Peter had already become more withdrawn since he hit high school. But with his uncle’s death and leaving most of his childhood friends to attend Midtown Tech, she thought his isolation wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

But as the secrets started to pile up, she couldn’t tell the truth from the lies anymore. She fell so far out of the loop with the truth that it didn’t matter to her whether Peter was feeding her a line, she just wanted to know what was going on in his life.

She was starting to miss the kid that used to babble on and on about whatever science project his teacher assigned, missing the far-off look in his eyes when he would talk so passionately about something that made utterly _no_ sense to her.

The silence wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen from him before, though. After his parents died, Peter went into his own little world. Barely speaking, _especially_ not to her, and staying in his room whenever possible.

May was still pretty new to his life at that point. She rarely hung out with her in-laws, and their son had only met her a handful of times. Since she and Ben never had the chance to have kids, she loved to have a nephew, a little kid running around in her life. But still, she felt the distance between them only widen as he grew up.

He exhibited the same traits after Ben had died. Saying only a few words before locking himself away to do God knows what in his room.

Except now that he was a teenager, all the concerning things he used to do felt like everyday behaviors, and it seemed that he kept trying to find a way to avoid her at all costs. Before, when she would cook, they had their own mixtapes to jam out to. They would sing until their throats ached and the food was ready. Now it pained her to look over and see Peter with headphones on, listening to their old tapes without her.

May tried to tell herself that he was just a teenager being a teenager, but once she started to catch him in his lies and Tony Stark showed up, something in her gut told her there was more to it than just hormones.

But nothing could have prepared her for the heart-stopping sight of Peter in that suit.

The suit that took up hours of the news coverage she watched.

The suit that showed someone _swinging_ between _buildings_ like it was no big deal.

The suit that held her sixteen-year-old nephew inside.

She loathed that suit more than anything else. She didn’t want to think about how Peter was in the center of all of those broadcasts. Just like she didn’t want to believe that he was risking his life with every jump he made. May hated all the people who wanted to hurt him because of that stupid suit.

May couldn’t comprehend how after everyone they’d lost, that he’d willingly put his own life on the line.

He was only trying to help people, but isn’t that what the police were for? What firefighters were for? What the _Avengers_ were for?

He always had such a big heart, but she’d be damned if she let him get hurt for it.

The feeling left inside of her churned, all of the possibilities of what could happen to him projected in her mind, she’d suddenly felt a wave-crashing sense of worry flood her whole system.

 _Is this what motherhood feels like?_ She thought.

-

Small things began to bother her. Like when Peter would come back hours after he said he would, when he’d hide his phone’s screen from her so she didn’t see who he was texting, and when he left without saying goodbye.

She began picking fights more than before, trying to buy time before he left, and trying to keep him from leaving in the first place. The two were at each other’s throats at the drop of a hat.

Tension had been visible in Peter the past few weeks. May had guessed it had to do with some important Spider-Man superhero business. He would leave the house at any given moment, she’d always spy a hint of red peeking out beneath his hoodie, but never said anything about it. As much as she wanted to get in the middle of it all, Peter only meant well.

But this time was different, May had a _right_ to be angry.

This time it was the anniversary of Ben’s death, and some part of her snapped when she saw that damn suit beneath his coat on the way out. She sputtered, “Don’t you dare walk out that door.”

Peter stopped mid-stride, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me loud and clear. Not tonight, you’re not leaving.”

He clenched his jaw, hands beginning to form fists, “I don’t understand why I can’t.”

“Do you even know what day it is, Peter?”

He looked down, curls covering his eyes, but she hoped to God there was some ounce of guilt in them. “Of… of course I do, Aunt May, but I have to go.” He said, his gaze kept downcast.

She began to raise her voice, “If you know what day it is, then act like it.”

After a pregnant pause, he turned to meet her eyes, “I’m trying to prevent something like that from happening again.”

“There are 365 days in a year, Peter. Can’t you take the night off?”

His hand laid still on the doorknob, fingers hesitant on whether to turn it or not, “That isn’t fair and you know it.”

“I may be your aunt, but I don’t have to be your friend,” she huffed, “I just can’t lose the only person I have left.”

Peter bit his lip, but the words spilled out regardless, “You’re my aunt, but you’re _not_ my mom.” He walked out the door and May was left with her mouth open and her heart torn.

She got up from her spot on the couch and slammed the door on the way into her bedroom, _their_ old bedroom. Today was _the_ day, the day that flipped her life upside down and fucked with Peter’s more than it needed to be.

Sitting on the left side of the bed, she splayed herself across it. As she closed her eyes, she picked up the phantom senses around her. Alongside the smell of the lavender sheets, the Old Spice that Ben used to wear invaded her. She could feel the right side of the bed dip where he used to sleep, hear his faint snoring, and almost thought that when she opened her eyes again, that he would be there waiting for her.

Opening her eyes to the white ceiling, however, she turned right to see nothing but the framed picture of their wedding day lying on the bedside table.

Reaching across the queen-sized bed, May picked up the photo and held it tight to her chest before having a rush of lethargy sweep over and pull her under for a long night’s rest.

-

May woke up with a crick in her neck and the imprint of the picture frame against her arms. She kissed the photo of Ben before placing it back on the bedside table. Stretching her limbs, she tried to listen for any sign that Peter was awake. She got up from the bed after hearing nothing and made her way to the kitchen.

The microwave’s clock read _9:25_ , but as she turned to the dining table, she saw Peter’s backpack lying in his seat. As heated as their argument got, she never thought he’d risk his spot at Midtown Tech just to go off and vent, ditch, or do whatever teens did with their loads of angst.

Making herself a fresh pot of coffee, she still had worry running through her veins. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the bright red flashing of the answering machine. She pressed the button to hear the mechanical voice say, “You have one new message,”

_Beep_

“H-Hi May…”

“ _Peter_?” She gasped at the phone.

“I’m really sorry about last night, like, really sorry.”

“I want you to know that I never forget about Uncle Ben,” his voice cracked, “that’s why I had to go out last night. That’s why I’ll keep leaving.”

“But I want you to know that I’ll always come back.”

She rested her face in her hands.

“I promise, Aunt May.”

_Beep_

-

She remembered the voicemail he left for her after their fight.

She remembered the text she got later that day about how Mr. Stark was in trouble and that he needed to go with him to help.

She remembered walking into the grocery store like any other day.

She remembered the cashier being there one minute and gone the next, fading into nothing but dust.

She remembered having a seed of panic grow within her as she turned around to see others disappearing just the same.

She remembered stopping where she was and saying a little prayer, “You better come back, Peter.”

“You _promised_.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as Peter’s POV but then I changed it to May’s bc why not. Also, I love May, writing this made me feel so bad for her :( Written for the prompt “Don’t you dare walk out that door” for hotsterfield ‘s writing challenge on Tumblr.


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